Local to perform in 'Duo Project'

Fingerstyle guitarist David Youngman of Hillsdale will team up with saxophonist Derek Brown of Abilene, Texas to present The Duo Project - music with no boundaries.

The concert will be held at 7 p.m. July 1 at the Hillsdale Free Methodist Church, 150 Union St., Hillsdale. A donation of $5 is suggested.

The two are performing in concert together again after seven years and are currently doing a mini tour this summer. Both with degrees in music and more than 15 years of performing and composing, the duo presents a set of music combining elements of jazz, bluegrass, pop and classical.

Opening for the duo will be fingerstyle guitarist Chris Weiss of Lexington, KY., whose wife, Meagan, grew up in Hillsdale.

In 2002, Brown and Youngman toured the Midwest for three years with the jazz and bluegrass hybrid group knows as “Afterthought” and then headed in separate directions.

“Musically it’s been very easy to get back together - we tend to click when playing together,” Youngman said. “It’s just been a challenge since Derek is from Texas to get together to make an album.”

Youngman studied both classical and jazz guitar with Larry Williams at Spring Arbor University. After obtaining his degree, he studied with prestigious guitar educators and performers Brian Roberts, John Stropes and Rene Izquierdo.

During formal training, the guitarist also spent years outside the academic world to explore other genres and developed his “jazz grass” style with the group “Afterthought.” The group recorded two albums while performing around the Midwest.

Like his main influence Bela Fleck, Youngman said he has been intrigued by so many styles that his folk fingerstyle music tends to include elements of jazz, bluegrass, pop, Celtic, funk and classical genres.

Brown is the director of jazz studies and an instructor in saxophone and theory at Abilene Christian University. He grew up in western Michigan and earned his bachelor of music at Hope College in Holland, double majoring in jazz and classical performances. He received his master of music in jazz studies from the university of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

Youngman, who lives in Hillsdale with his wife, Liz and their three children, has performed his blend of traditional and contemporary music at events that include the Lansing Jazz Festival, Grand Rapids Art Festival and the Crosby Festival of the Arts in Toledo, as well as numerous community concert series, churches and more.

“Last summer I enjoyed performing solo at one of the concerts in the park at Mrs. Stocks Park, which was a lot of fun,” Youngman said.

After a concert at Ionia First United Methodist Church right after the release of the Alive album, the Rev. Larry Brown commented, “David has a sensitive heart and his music flows directly from it.”